Local runner Brendan Conway wins new Mayo marathon in style

The sun broke through over Westport harbour for the start of the inaugural Westport Marathon in which over 2,500 participants took on the 10k, half or full marathon event.

The three events welcomed competitors at all levels of running and walking.

For runners who never participated in a competitive race before, Westport was the perfect location to start.

The winner of the full marathon was local man Brendan Conway, who finishing at the amazing time of 02:38:17.

Brendan is no stranger to marathons all over the world so it was great to see him coming across the line in his local town.

The ladies weren’t far behind with the 1st female, Laura Rooney, coming in at 03:09:17

The half marathon had another local man Shaun McLaughlin taking the number one spot, coming in at 01:15:28.

Aisling O'Malley, a native of Kildare, took first prize, smashing her previous best personal time by clocking 01:28:08

The 10k competitors didn’t waste time with Donal Mongey racing across the finish line at 00:35:31 and the first lady, Ellen Moran, on his heels, coming in at 00:36:03.

What an amazing finish with a local woman in the top three.

The event's charity partner was Gena Heraty Haiti Fund.

Gena was born in Westport, Co. Mayo and has been living in Haiti since 1993.

She has completely dedicated her life to the children of Haiti.

She is running a home for mentally and physically handicapped children who are suffering from hunger and infectious diseases.

It was a great day out in the most beautiful part of Ireland!

The backdrop to the finish line of Croagh Patrick at Roman Island was the icing on the cake for our competitors.

Westport Marathon is looking forward to coming back bigger and better next year!

Full race results are available on www.westportmarathon.ie